they did a great job, obviously, of evidence collection in this case, and it really, really helped this case along. >> i'd say one in a million. like i said, it's a miracle. by the grace of god, you know, by the grace of god, you know, they found it. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com breaking overnight, ukraine on the brink. russian troops moving into the country while the rest of the world chooses sides. the new steps the u.s. is taking this morning and the key ally russia may have picked up overnight. right now, brutal winter storm pummeling the east. millions waking up to snow and ice, being warned, stay off the roads. schools and offices shut down, thousands of flights already grounded this morning. our indra petersons is live tracking this latest winter storm for us. and while you were sleeping, it ended, just minutes ago.

hollywood honoring its best at the academy awards. we'll have the show-stopping moments and all the historic wins. good morning, everyone. a lot going on this morning. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it's monday, march 3rd. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. let's begin with breaking news, the crisis in ukraine escalating by the hour. u.s. officials confirming russian forces have seized complete operational control of the crimean peninsula. ukraine's new government putting its own military on high alert, charging russia has declared war. western leaders condemning moscow. secretary of state john kerry heading to kiev to show u.s. support for ukraine's new leaders, calling russia's actions a stunning and willful invasion. we need to bring in diana magness live in ukraine for us this morning. get us up to speed. what is happening at this hour? >> reporter: hi, christine. well, there are several military bases in crimea which are

surrounded by troops. also, we're hearing from ukrainian authorities that several border posts overnight were attacked by these same military troops. they are wearing, though, insignia. again, russia has not acknowledged that these troops are theirs. on the streets of simferopol, where i am now, it is very calm. it doesn't feel as though there is an invasion or occupation as such. there are troops, though, darted around various locations, for example in front of the main regional and administration building. what you set a sense from here on the ground is that this is more of a war of information. so, there are people who are watching russian tv who believe one story, who believe that ultra nationalists are en route to crimea to try and disrupt the peace. and then you have those who are watching news coming from the west and from the ukrainian government who believe something different, and this is what is create these divisions, which are sort of accentuating this idea of deep divisions within

this country, christine. >> diana, we understand the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, and his chinese counterpart have spoken by phone about the situation. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: well, we know simply from the russian foreign ministry that they had this talk and that their views, russia and china, their views coincide on this issue and that they would be staying in close contact. there are so many high-level talks going on. there is also an osce meeting this afternoon to try and resolve this physician, and john kerry will be coming to kiev on tuesday. so, so many diplomatic efforts. and i've got to tell you, the people here in crimea feel like thaerz caught in the middle of it, and a lot of people say, please, put the message across that right here it's peaceful now. it seems to be that the real anguish, the angst is going on in the war of words around this small part of ukraine, christine. >> that's a really good point. diana magnay, thank you so much. and of course, so much of the issue here is that ukraine is

quite literally the pipeline for russia and so much exports of oil and gas to europe. this is right there, the footprint, the chess piece for russia. >> it goes right through ukraine. and of course, "the new york times" reporting this morning that angela merkel spoke to vladimir putin and told president obama that she believes putin has lost touch with reality. so, that's a little unsettling to read as you wake up this morning. all right, four minutes after the hour. in other news, another round of deadly winter weather slicing through the middle of the united states. at this hour, close to 100 million people are waking up to ice, snow and plunging temperatures, severe storms. right now there is a state of emergency in tennessee, alabama and texas. i just got word from someone on fit twitter that texas is a mess this morning. overall across the country, 2,000 flights, mostly in the northeast, have already been canceled today. in parts of kansas, the windchill overnight made it feel like 20 below. take a look at just how treacherous that is. 6 inches of snow sending cars skidding off interstate 135 in

wichita. more winter misery in missouri. you're looking at one of the dozens of accidents on snow-covered roads in st. louis. >> oh, my. >> police report rescuing dozens of drivers who were stranded for hours. they were on interstate 70 there. >> so, schools are closed, travel's a nightmare in southwest illinois. look at that, windchills are below zero, highways choked with ice and snow. illinois officials telling us there is not a single major roadway in the state that's not iced over. parts of i-275 shut down for two hours in both directions in northern kentucky. just state after state feeling this weather. drivers in kentucky being warned to stay off the roads. that state has been socked with up to 7 inches of snow. two traffic deaths in the south blamed on this system. the mid-atlantic states getting hit right now, as we've been saying. indra petersons is tracking the extreme weather for us. she is live in washington, d.c., this morning. good morning, indra. >> reporter: good morning. it's unbelievable how quickly things are changing out here, john. remember, this is the same system that was in california right before the oscars, a

system that was so rare, it actually brought an efo tornado in that region. now, it's impacted so many of us as its made us way across the country, icing concerns in memphis, tennessee, and kentu y kentucky, now into the mid-atlantic. a few hours ago looking outside, nothing. then an hour or so ago, rain and freezing rain, and now we've changed over from sleet into snow. it's a very wet snow that makes it kind of miserable feeling this morning. unfortunately, this is something we're going to have to get used to in the d.c. area for some time, because the snow's only expected to get heavier and heavier. keep in mind, two weeks ago we were talking about, this is the biggest snowstorm they had with 6 inches to a foot of snow in the d.c. area, the biggest snowstorm here in three years. now once again, we're talking about potential for another 5, even 10 inches of snow, guys. unbelievable what kind of season this has been. of course, the bull's eye now further south. if you're out towards new york city, you're only talking about maybe under an inch of snow. that system has progressed farther south, so the bull's eye

around the mid-atlantic, d.c., virginia, west virginia. the farther south you are, you'll get more of the wintry mix. even farther south than that, the temperatures are warmer, you'll be talking about rain. but regardless what kind of winter weather you're getting, it is so cold, guys. we are talking about another blast of arctic air. so temperatures are not just about 30, 40 below where they should be in the upper midwest. you're talking about all the way down even into the southeast, places like texas seeing temperatures today 30 below where they should be, and it is march, guys. no one wants this. that is the concern. even places out towards philly looking at several more inches of snow throughout the day today. here towards d.c., we're talking about snow thickening up throughout the day, not exiting until maybe after rush hour tonight. but by 9:00 p.m. or so, things should calm down, this guy should finally exit off to sea. keep in mind, temperatures as we know will be staying cold, so any snow on the ground will be staying here for a couple of days. i can't believe it is march. how about you guys? >> all i need is a new pair of gloves because i've lost all my gloves for the winter. you can't buy new gloves.

there are like capri pants in the stores, you know? it's ready for the spring apparel and i need a pair of gloves! >> i am over it, completely over it. >> reporter: i have some, but i'm not giving them to you. >> you keep them. the white house calling on israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to seize the moment and work towards a mideast peace agreement. the president warning it will be difficult to defend israel from international isolation if jerusalem fails to reach a peace deal with the palestinians. he's also calling on the israelis to give nuclear talks with iran more time to succeed. >> if he keeps his schedule this week, president obama plans to campaign hard for a minimum wage hike and he will be taking that fight on the road. again, that's the schedule, depending on the crisis in the ukraine. the president's scheduled to be in connecticut on wednesday, along with four new england governors, making the case for a $10.10 minimum wage. it's been $7.25 since 2009. house republicans have been fighting that increase, claiming it would hurt employers and cost americans jobs. former irs official lois

lerner will not testify this week at a house hearing into the agency's alleged targeting of conservative groups. according to her attorney, she'll plead the fifth. california republican darrell issa heads up the hearing on wednesday. yesterday he told reporters he does expect lerner to testify. republicans believe because she read a statement before issa's committee last spring, lerner's waived her right to invoke the fifth amendment. and afghan president hamid karzai ripping the united states for its role in his nation's 12-year war. karzai tells the "washington post" the common cause he's shared with the country has eroded because of civilian casualties. he adds that u.s. forces should have focused more on hitting taliban havens in pakistan and less on afghan villages. karzai has refused to sign a security pact with washington that would keep some u.s. troops in his country beyond 2014. all right, north korea now flexing its muscle again, firing two short-range missiles into the sea after similar rocket launches last week. this is part of a now yearly

dance with south korea that carries out joint military exercises with the u.s. those annual drills began last week and were immediately condemned by the north as preparations for war. the missiles have been identified as scuds with the capability of reaching japan. the crisis in ukraine spreading into worldwide markets this morning. u.s. stocks in the very early going indicate sharply lower open this morning. dow futures down 100 points. big declines in stocks in europe and asia. oil and natural gas prices soaring. here's the reason -- ukraine doesn't hold much power, but it's geographically very important to europe. look at this map. russia supplies about 25% of europe's gas, and half of that gas needs to travel through pipelines running through, yes, ukraine. also, ukraine is one more fragile emerging market. the country deep in debt, in need of assistance to avoid economic collapse in the coming weeks. that's what all the analysts are telling us. then there are grain prices. ukraine is one of the world's

top exporters of corn and wheat. prices could rise on concerns that exports could be disrupted. >> you showed that map of ukraine right where the pipelines are going through. >> yeah. >> there are people saying that europe and the u.s. does have some leverage here over russia because russia does need those markets. if for some reason the pipelines are shut down, it cuts off a huge market. >> russia, europe, ukraine. everyone wants to make sure you don't disrupt the economics of the region. that's incredibly, incredibly important. that may be something that tempers, quite frankly. >> let's hope. all right, the other big news overnight, hollywood made history at the academy awards. and in case you did not stay up -- >> you stayed up. >> i stayed up way later than i should. as expected, cate blanchett won her second oscar, this time for best actress for a socialite who suffers a blakedown in "blue jasmine." on the men's side it was the "dallas buyers club" showing up big time. matthew mcconaughey won his first oscar, named best actor for his role as a cowboy diagnosed with aids in "dallas buyers club." there he is, kissing his wife

right there. what a lovely moment for mr. mcconaughey. best director honors went to alfonso cuaron for his gripping sci-fi drama "gravity." this was groundbreaking to look at, phenomenal directing there. he's the first latin director to win best director. the film won seven oscars in all, mostly in technical categories, but not best picture, however. that honor went to? >> steve mcqueen. >> let's let will smith say it. he says it better than me. >> "12 years a slave"! >> there you go. you know, i had to let him say it right there. that's will smith. "12 years a slave" won best picture, directed by steve mcqueen. just unflinching slave drama. it's the first film from a black director to win best picture. so, the show last night also made twitter history. why? well, i'm sure you've seen it because it's been retweeted more than 2 million times. this all-star selfie right there. name all those mega stars in that picture. there they are. that's been retweeted by every human on earth at least twice.

it beat the previous most-tweeted retweet, which was from president obama the night of his re-election. it also crashed twitter, by the way, for about 20 minutes. >> jared leto got the best supporting actor to for his role in "dallas buyers club," so it was a big night for "dallas buyers club," but i met him at a screening in december and asked him how it felt, you know, so many months or even years after filming, to see yourself in such an important film. and he told me, i didn't watch the movie. can you believe that? he won best supporting actor and he told me he didn't watch the movie. >> turns out, it's really good. you should check it out. hear it's going to win some awards. >> he says he leaves the arts there on location. some are calling this the trial of a century, an olympic hero accused of murdering his model girlfriend. was it cold-blooded killing or a tragic mistake? we're live in the court as it begins this morning in the blade runner murder trial. and a new warning for parents this morning. how a popular machine, the sound machine's meant to help babies sleep. >> oh, no. >> yeah, that's what i said, too. these machines could be hurting

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[ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition in charge™. welcome back. you're looking at a live picture from ellicott city, maryland, near the nation's capital. the snow beginning to fall harder and will continue into tonight. we're tracking extreme weather. we're going to bring you the very latest in just a moment. in the other news we have for you this morning, developing right now, just moments ago, the oscar pistorius murder trial got under way in south africa. the blade runner faces 25 years or more behind bars for the shooting death of his model girlfriend last valentine's day. he has pled not guilty to all the charges against him. again, that was just minutes ago. our senior international correspondent nic robertson is live from pretoria this morning, where the trial is now under way. good morning, nic. >> reporter: good morning, john.

you know what was really interesting, after those charges were read out, the defense attorney erupting oscar pistorius laid out, if you will, some of the points of the defense. oscar pistorius signed an affidavit at his bail hearing said that he had heard a disturbance in the bathroom of his house just after he had been to retrieve some fans from the balcony of that apartment of that house, and that's when he grabbed the pistol from underneath his bed, went into the bathroom, shot those shots through the bathroom door. even the magistrate at the time at the bail hearing had said, how could oscar pistorius not have known that his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp, wasn't in the bed? well, listening to his defense attorney now, we're beginning to get some semblance of details added on. his defense attorney said as oscar, or just before oscar pistorius went to get those fans from his balcony, he had talked to reeva steenkamp in bed. the indication there laying the

groundwork that he believed she was in bed because he had just talked to her. he said it was pitch dark and that's why he didn't know. so, we're beginning to see from the defense exactly how they intend to play the charges as they stand right now, john. >> this case, of course, it was all a terrible, terrible mistake. this trial being called the trial of the century in so many parts of the world, because oscar pistorius is such a major star. nic, it's a very different trial than americans are used to. there is no jury, just a judge there. our nic robertson will watch it for us in pretoria. thank you so much for being with us this morning, nic. the terrorism trial of osama bin laden's son-in-law begins today in new york. sulaiman abu ghaith, the former al qaeda spokesman charged with conspiring to kill americans, he is one of the highest level al qaeda figures to be tried on u.s. soil, just blocks from ground zero. the case is being seen as a major test for the federal court system. many critics arguing the trial should take place in a military court. a big deadline today for two former top chris christie

staffers involved in the bridgegate investigation. bridget kelly and bill stepien, both fired now, have refused to comply with subpoenas. today their lawyers have to explain why they are not turning over documents. the governor, chris christie, cut ties with kelly after her infamous e-mail "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee," after that went public, and he says he became aware of it for the first time. all right, eight cities are vying to host the 2016 republican national convention. today in washington, six of them will make their pitch to the rnc selection committee. cleveland, cincinnati, columbus, denver, kansas city and phoenix. dallas and las vegas will present later this month. final decision expected later this year. >> the possibility of it happening in vegas is causing a lot of waves right now in political circles. all right, this story caught my attention, because my kids used this for years. sound machines designed to help infants sleep, they could be damaging kids' hearing. >> oh, wow. >> researchers say some of these machines are even capable of delivering noise that is unsafe for full-grown adults.

the machines can be built into stuffed animals and placed dangerously close to infants' ears. experts are advising parents to keep the devices further away from children at lower volumes and for shorter periods of time. >> i always wondered if they would get, like, so used to the sound of the rhythmic sound of the sleep machine that i wouldn't be able to get them to sleep someplace else. that's what my -- >> leave it on for hours, i mean, 11 hours a night. so i'm going to take a good look at that study. all right, coming up for us, tiger woods limping off the golf course, calling it quits in the final round of a big event. and now this morning, we are learning why. andy scholes explains it all in the "bleacher report," coming up next. [ ostad ] most people have never even heard of acid erosion. there's a lot of fruits and drinks that have acids in them that you might not know about. salad dressings, raspberries, strawberries... they all have acid in them, and it's working at your enamel. once the enamel is gone, it's gone. you can't get it back. i would recommend using pronamel as your regular toothpaste. pronamel will help to re-harden the enamel that is softened by the acids in our daily diets.

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tiger woods off to a tough, tough start in 2014. the world's number one golfer pulling out of the honda classic over the weekend, he says due to injury. andy scholes joins us now with the "bleacher report." what have you got, andy? >> hey, good morning, guys. this is not the start to the pga tour season tiger was looking for. so far, he's off to his worst start ever in his 18 years as a pro. now, during yesterday's final round at the honda classic, tiger's back started acting up on him and he was forced to withdraw from the tournament and tiger doesn't know whether he will be able to play in the wgc cadillac championship in doral, where he is the defending champion. we'll have to wait and see. as for the rest of the honda classic, rory mcilroy looked like he would cruise to victory, that is until he blew a two-shot

lead. the tournament went to a four-way playoff, mr. mcilroy lost. march is here and the madness is right around the corner. selection sunday is less than two weeks away. arizona strengthened their resume late last night, beating stanford. with the win, the wildcats clinched the pac-12 regular-season title. right now, arizona is projected as a one seed for the ncaa tournament. all right, in the nba, the play of the weekend came from the bulls' jimmy butler. he drives into the stands to save the loose ball, but then he's trapped behind a row of seats, so he improvised and just runs through the stands, then he jumps back into action on the other side of the court. amazingly, right there, there was a knick standing on the court ready to guard him. as we know, the knicks don't play much defense. trending on bleacherreport.c bleacherreport.com, paula kramer needing to make an eagle putt from 75 feet away from the win.

looking good. >> no way! >> it's looking good. it's online. and it will drop. >> you've got to be kidding. >> what an incredible shot, creamer's first lpga win in three years, guys, and it's definitely a memorable one. just an amazing shot. you know what they call that? ice in the veins. >> that was to win it? that was a 75-foot eagle to win it? >> to win the tournament. incredible. >> i've never seen anything like that. that is totally nuts. >> and you've got to know, she was just hoping to get it close to the pin to go for the birdie to keep the tournament going, but, whoo, man. >> wow, that's something. >> good stuff. >> andy scholes, thank you for that. an inspiration this morning, and we needed it. >> take it with you through the week. anything is possible. monday morning. >> if she can do it, i can, too. >> thank you, andy. breaking news this morning, ukraine on the brink of war and the world choosing sides. a live report, plus all your top headlines, right after the break.

breaking overnight, the crisis in ukraine. russian troops invading. the world is picking sides, and global markets are reacting. this morning, how the u.s. is responding and what major military power may now be siding with moscow. we are live. happening right now, millions waking up to a brutal winter storm. schools closed, power knocked out, people told to stay off the roads. we are all so over this, folks. indra petersons is tracking the dangerous conditions across the country. while you were sleeping, history was made at the oscars.

we're bringing you the landmark wins and the brightest moments of hollywood's biggest and longest night. >> ending just seconds ago, just wrapped up the oscars right now. we're here to bring you all the news. stayed up way later than i should. welcome to "early start," i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans, 30 minutes after the hour. and the breaking news we are following very, very closely, ukraine on the brink of disaster this morning. those words from the country's acting prime minister. this as u.s. officials confirm that russian forces have now seized complete operational control of the crimen peninsula. ukraine's new government accusing russia of committing an act of war, putting its own military on high alert this morning. secretary of state john kerry announcing he is heading to kiev to support ukraine's new leadership. he'll have meetings there tomorrow. he calls russia's invasion of crimea an incredible act of aggression. let's get to diana magnay, on the ground live in crimea this morning, in the ukraine,

although now under occupation, apparently, by russian troops. diana, give us the latest. >> reporter: occupation in simferopol, where i am, which is essentially the capital. it doesn't feel like that. you have many troops on the streets, although they are patrolling, for example, the main regional administration building still. but around military bases here in crimea, there are hundreds more troops who have been trying to get ukrainian military there to surrender their weapons. and along the border posts, most importantly, and on the east of crimea, we're hearing from the ukrainian government that there were attacks on those border posts overnight by what the guards have described as russian special forces. we need to note, john, that all of these troops, special forces, whoever they are, are still not wearing any kind of military insignia, but i think it's safe to assume that they are russian, even though russia has not acknowledged that it has troops on the ground here now, but it does feel like an annexation of

this area, this part of ukraine. and of course, if you get large numbers of troops coming in from the east across the border, they can bring in military, they can bring in armaments, and then they can move from crimea. and the big question is whether they will then move into eastern ukraine also. >> huge, huge question. you used the word annexation, which is an incredible word to use when you're dealing with diplomacy and international relations. president obama has been working the phones with european allies all weekend overnight. the russians also trying to line up some support. i understand they had conversations with china -- >> reporter: i'm not hearing you. >> i think we just lost diana magnay, who is in crimea right now, where she says it feels very much like an annexation with russian troops on the ground there. we should say that russia had been talking to china overnight. >> right. >> instead, this is according to the russian foreign minister, that china's views coincide with the russian views. so, we're trying to learn more about that. meantime, dow futures are down 100 points. why does an economy of $175

billion, a relatively small economy in the ukraine, matter to markets? because it is a chess piece for the export of oil and gas from russia. very, very important, strategic situation. one analyst i follow said this is the biggest geopolitical, seismic event since 9/11. so, that's a really -- >> the definition of instability. crazy day in the markets. >> expect dow futures down 116 points right now. so, now, to the winter that just won't let up. my goodness, look at this! at this hour, nearly 100 million americans are coping with ice, snow and severe storms. there's a state of emergency in tennessee, alabama and texas. about 2,000 flights, mostly in the northeast, have already been canceled today. in parts of kansas, the windchill overnight made it feel like 20 below. 6 inches of snow there sent cars skidding off of interstate 135. that there is a mess in wichita. more winter misery for missouri. dozens of accidents reported on snow-covered roadways in st. louis. police forced to rescue, look at

that, dozens of drivers who were stranded on icy interstate 70. they were there for hours. >> schools shut down, travel treacherous in southwest illinois. windchills below zero there. the highways choked with ice and snow. look at that. that looks like fargo. i always think about the movie "fargo" when i see a scene like this. officials say there does not appear to be a single major roadway in the state that is not iced over. all right, parts of i-275 shut down for two hours in both directions in northern kentucky. drivers are being warned to stay off the roads. parts of the state socked with up to 7 inches of snow. all right, two deaths being blamed on the storm, one in arkansas, the other in oklahoma, and the mid-atlantic states getting socked again right now. indra petersons is tracking the severe weather for us from the nation's capital this morning. hi, indra. >> reporter: good morning. once again, things are changing so quickly out here. just a few hours ago, we had nothing. then we saw some rain. then it was freezing rain, the worst thing of all. good news there, that icing did not last long.

the d.c. area has quickly switched over to sleet and now mostly just snow is all we're seeing. the really interesting thing about this storm, though, guys, it's so dynamic, is that it is going from warm to colder and colder, right, as that cold air moves in, so we weren't able to salt a lot of the roads because the rain came first, so it would have washed everything away. that's the concern. even though it's now starting to snow, crews will have to come out this morning and salt the roads ahead of the heavier snow that's expected to fall throughout the day. and what a system. this is a system that no one escaped this time. it is the same one, guys, that was on the west coast, the one that brought that heavy rain just before the oscars in california. there's actually an ef-0 tornado reported from the system. then it made its way across the country. then we saw horrible icing conditions out towards tennessee, even kentucky, and now the system has made its way into the mid-atlantic. philly already seeing the snow, d.c. seeing the snow. but the bull's eye, guys, has shifted a little bit farther to the south. we did know we would have to watch where the track of this was, and we now know it will be farther to the south. the bull's eye good up to 10 inches of snow, in tennessee,

portions of virginia. keep in mind, we just had up to a foot of snow here a couple weeks ago, so unbelievable. it should exit out by tonight, but the cold air is lasting. >> we're over it, indra. thank you very much. this weather needs to go. >> are you inside? >> we're so over it. we're inside, you're outside. there was a disturbing report last half hour that christine roman has run out of gloves this winter. can we get a second source? >> reporter: we'll go shopping for some. >> i have two right gloves that don't match and that's what i'll be wearing, apparently until easter. >> indra, thank you so much. >> reporter: set trends, christine. in other news this morning, the white house is calling on israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to seize the moment and work towards a middle east peace agreement. the prime minister will meet with president obama at the white house this afternoon. the president is already warning it will be difficult to defend israel from international isolation if israel fails to reach a peace deal with the palestinians. he is also calling on the israelis to give nuclear talks with iran more time to succeed. developing this morning,

afghan president hamid karzai slamming the u.s. for its role in his nation's 12-year-old war. he tells the "washington post" the common cause the u.s. shared with his country has deteriorated because of civilian casualties. he insists u.s. forces should have focused more on hitting taliban havens in pakistan, less focus on afghan villages. karzai has refused to sign a security pact with washington that would keep some u.s. troops in his country beyond 2014. a show of might from north korea, firing two short-range missiles into the sea on monday after similar rocket launches last week, part of a now yearly routine with the south koreans as they carry out joint military exercises with the u.s. the annual drills began last week and were immediately condemned by the north as preparations for war. the north korean missiles had been identified as scuds with the capability of reaching japan. all right, political and economic instability in ukraine, increased tension between russia and the west. that sends shivers through global markets. stocks in asia closed lower.

london, france and germany all losing ground right now. and early indications are the selling persists when u.s. stock markets open four hours from now. futures down more than 100 points right now. the big concern is russia and its relationship with the rest of the world. this weekend, secretary of state john kerry said the u.s. is "absolu "absolutely willing to consider sanctions" against russia. and president obama added the u.s. is considering all options. major oil pipelines run from russia through the ukraine. the country one of the world's top exporters of corn and wheat, the ukraine is. prices could rise if exports are disrupted. and the ukraine is economically unstable. it owes $13 billion in debt. it could face default if help isn't given soon. a very dangerous situation there. it's why such a small economy really, really matters in the global market. >> unstable may be, you know, overstating it. >> right. >> it could be nearly insolvent at this point. >> that's right. 40 minutes after the hour. new this morning, history being made at the academy awards. and in case you missed it, here are the big winners.

as expected, cate blanchett won her second oscar sunday night, best actress for playing a socialite who suffers a breakdown in "blue jasmine." she did thank woody allen in her acceptance speech. on the men's side, matthew mcconaughey won his first oscar, named best actor for his role as a rodeo cowboy diagnosed with aids in "dallas buyers club." getting a kiss and a statue. what a night for matthew mcconaughey. >> he and jared leto both wearing white suits. >> it's hard to wear a white suit. best director went to alfonso cuaron for his gripping sci-fi drama "gravity." the first latin american director to take the prize. he also, by the way, won the film with the most oscars, "gravity," mostly for technical. it did not win best picture, though. that film was? will smith will say it right now. stay with him. stay with him. here it comes. and -- >> "12 years a slave"! >> "12 years a slave" by director steve mcqueen. "12 years a slave" won for the first film with a black director. best supporting actress last

night. the show last night made twitter history. why? because of a selfie. ellen degeneres inspired it right there. you see every major actor on earth in that selfie right there. it was retweeted more than 2 million times. that more than doubled president obama's re-election tweet. it also crashed twitter for about 20 minutes right there. the thing that i hate about this is that an impromptu moment with all the most famous people, they all look so darn good anyway! >> because they spent all day getting pampered before going there. >> i take a selfie like that my face is all distorted and everything. look at them. >> come on. you're just as cute as bradley cooper. >> come on. >> says your wife. >> she doesn't, though! no one says that! all right, we digress. all right, happening right now, an olympic hero on trial for the murder of his girlfriend. did he kill her in cold blood or was this all a tragic mistake? we have new details this morning on just what this defense is going to look like. that story next. (vo) you are a business pro.

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good morning. welcome back to "early start." all eyes are on south africa as the oscar pistorius trial gets under way in pretoria. the blade runner faces 25 years or more behind bars for the shooting death of his fashion model girlfriend last valentine's day. the former olympian claims he mistook her for an intruder. prosecutors call it a clear case of premeditated murder. senior international correspondent nic robertson live from pretoria, south africa, for us this morning. what are we learning today new about the defense? >> reporter: yeah, we're getting some interesting details from the defense, and unusual as well. the defense would really lay out its case at this stage, we're told, but the defense giving evidence that oscar pistorius talked with reeva steenkamp, his girlfriend, in bed shortly before that shooting took place. there have been many questions before, why didn't he call out

to her before? how did he -- why didn't he check that she wasn't in the bathroom? he had said the room was pitch dark, but now we get an indication that he believed she was in bed because he had talked to her there shortly before. we have now just heard from the first witness, a near neighbor, who says that she was awoken by a woman screaming. her husband was woken as well, she says. and then the woman's screaming became more intense. she became really worried because she thought that something terrible was about to happen. then she says she heard four shots, and they went like this, bang, pause, bang, bang, bang. that's how she described it. so, one shot, a bit of a pause, then the following three shots. and this is a neighbor. this as the prosecution laying out their case. they have argued in the past that there was an argument in the house. the defense saying that is not true. more of this to come through these coming days. christine? >> all right, nic robertson for us in pretoria. thank you, nic. time to figure out what's

going on on "new day" this morning, coming up. >> chris cuomo, kate bolduan both here with us? >> hey, guys! >> chris is here. >> you're not that lucky. >> it's cuomo. there's grif behind you. >> behind a man, there's another man. this morning we'll be talking more about ukraine. the country is saying it is on the brink of war, so obviously our attention has to be there. talk has proven cheap for the u.s. and western allies as russia has moved in. we hear reports of small attacks being launched on the border. it's always a little unclear who's doing the attacking. we're trying to figure it out. can we avoid an all-out conflict there? what can the u.s. do? the secretary of state is going. we have a ton of experts coming on this morning who understand the region to kind of take us through why russia is where they are, what the reasonable expectations are going forward and what is it at this point that vladimir putin fears about the west for the united states, if anything? on a lighter note, of course, the oscars, best of the best of the academy awards last night. it was an evening marked with

major milestones. mick is in beverly hills with all the highlights. we'll bring you the moments everyone's talking about this morning. can you believe ellen broke twitter? what a headline. >> she broke twitter, right? >> if only it would stay that way. >> no, man. it would shut you down completely. great to see you this morning. we will be watching "new day," if only to find out about ukraine. a great panel of experts coming in there. >> we'll be right back. [ julie ] the wrinkle cream graveyard. if it doesn't work fast... you're on to the next thing. clinically proven neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it targets fine lines and wrinkles with the fastest retinol formula available. you'll see younger looking skin in just one week. one week? this one's a keeper. rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots rapid tone repair. from neutrogena®. and a hotel is the perfect place to talk to you about hotels.

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welcome back to "early start." the terrorist trial of osama bin laden's son-in-law gets under way today in new york. sulaiman abu ghaith, the al qaeda spokesman, is charged with conspiring to kill americans, one of the highest al qaeda figures to be tried in the united states, just blocks away from ground zero. the case is being seen as a major test of the federal court system here. many critics argue that it

should be tried in a military court instead. it is deadline day for two former top chris christie staffers involved in the bridgegate investigation. bridget kelly and bill stepien, both now fired, have refused to comply with subpoenas. today their lawyers have to explain why they shouldn't have to turn over documents. christie cut ties with kelly after her infamous e-mail, "time for some traffic problems in ft. lee," went public. listen to this, parents. sound machines designed to help infants sleep could be damaging their hearing. researchers say some products are capable of delivering noise levels that are unsafe even for full-grown adults. the machines can be built into stuffed animals, placed dangerously close to infants' ears. experts advise parents keep the devices further away from children, keep them at lower volumes and keep them on for shorter lengths of time. >> and if it's a new baby, you shouldn't be putting those in there anyway, right? because you can't have other stuff in there that they could suffocate and everything. >> the problem is, you just want them to sleep. >> i know. >> you'll do anything to get

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good morning. it's "money time," and it's going to be an ugly day for the stock market. futures sharply lower right now. the dow looks like it's down about 116 points. that's what the futures are indicating. big declines in europe and asian stock markets, all because of these escalating tensions with russia over the situation in ukraine that has investors pretty worried here. oil and natural gas prices surging. again, it's ukraine. here's the reason -- geographically, ukraine very important. you can see it, very important to europe. major gas pipelines that help supply europe run from russia through ukraine. other issues rattling markets, talk of sanctions on russia. russia is much more dependent on the international economy today than it was the last time tensions were high between russia and the west. ukraine is one of the world's top exporters of corn and wheat, if you didn't know that. concern there that prices could

rise if there's some sort of disruption. and ukraine is economically unstable. it owes $13 billion in debt this year and could face default if help isn't coming soon. now, the u.s., the treasury secretary has said a couple of times now that the u.s. and its partners are ready to help provide support for economic growth and stability in ukraine, but frankly, investors are still very worried. so, this is why in a very closely tied geopolitical marketplace, that's why something like this really, really matters to your money. >> yeah. it will be a rocky day on wall street. developments happening by the minute on ukraine. "new day" starts right now. the united states is united, russia is isolated. >> small attacks at the ukrainian border.

blood may be spilled as secretary of state john kerry heads to the region. has the u.s. been outplayed by putin again? >> also breaking, thousands of flights cancelled today as yet another winter storm tears through the east. but the forecast is changing rapidly. who's getting hit now and who is being spared? historic win, we are live from hollywood the morning after "12 years a slave" backs the first movie by a black director to take the top prize and host ellen degeneres literally broke twitter. >> your "new day" starts now. good morning. welcome to "new day" this monday, march 3rd, 6:00 in the east. ukraine officials say they're on the b